


"What you call unreliable, I call weak..."

by FranzSan



Series: Chihiro Rare Pair Fics [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: ...but plenty of cute ones to., A few oof moments..., Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Another rare pair that needs more love., Chihiro and Chiaki are cousins, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2019-08-23 23:42:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16628744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FranzSan/pseuds/FranzSan
Summary: Why did it have to be her?Mahiru Koizumi seems like the perfect person for Chihiro, a kind, level-headed, and ultimately strong girl...But there's two problems...One, her rude little friend who wants Chihiro to leave Mahiru alone...And two, Mahiru's definition of unreliable fits Chihiro like a glove.





	1. "I could bring my cousin."

Upon letting out a massive sigh, it was clear that something was on the mind of Mahiru Koizumi. She leaned against her desk, pressing her left hand against her chin, not moving an inch in any direction. The only time she would bother to move after the aforementioned sigh was either to blink, or to blow a small piece of her hair out from over her eye. Things weren't any sunnier to her right, as Hiyoko Saionji, clad in her trademarked Kimono, was essentially copying her posture to a T, minus using her right hand to lean against. Standing both in front of and in-between them, Chiaki Nanami pressed away at her hand-held console, blasting away at enemy spaceships in _Galaga_ while also shifting her eyes back and forth between the two girls.

"You know..." She popped up "...when I'm the most energetic person in the room, there's a problem."

Mahiru finally looked up and responded with a half-hearted chuckle. "I guess we're not being that subtle about how we feel."

"Yeah." Hiyoko chimed in. "I'm like, super disappointed. Like, 'missing your chance to win the lottery because you let an old person cut in front of you' disappointed."

"That's fairly disappointing.” Chiaki said after obliterating yet another enemy wave. “Did you guys lose your tickets to Usami Land?"

Mahiru shook her head and removed her hand from her chin, resting it against her desk. "No, we still have all four tickets, but now we're two people short."

"Really?" Chiaki tilted her head. "What happened?"

"Freaking Ibuki got a concussion from head banging too much and Pig Barf has to nurse her back to health." Hiyoko copied Mahiru's posture once again, but substituted her friend's mopey face with one of irritation.

Chiaki casually took note of this. "Oh, so that's why they were absent today. Hopefully Ibuki can get better."

"I'm not worried about Ibuki recovering, her being in Mikan's hands gives me a lot of comfort." Mahiru took her hand off of the desk and leaned back against her chair. "But we were all planning on going to Usami Land this weekend, and now we can't."

"Mahiru." Hiyoko whined. "Let's just go without them. Think about it, just you and me, riding on all the rides, winning a ton of stuffed animals...Oh! And we can both go on Mount Usami! We've been wanting to do that for years."

Mahiru placed her hand on Hiyoko's shoulder. "I know, but those passes are going to expire after the weekend, and I don't want them to go to waste."

"Well just give it to two random people. Like, literally just toss them into the air and whoever gets them can go."

"I'm not going to toss them." The freckled girl let out a sigh and removed her hand from Hiyoko's shoulder.

Chiaki chimed in by raising her hand. "I can go with you guys."

Both girls suddenly turned to face Chiaki, with Mahiru being the first to speak up. "Really? Didn't you and Hajime have a date planned out for the weekend?"

"It wasn't a date, and Hajime had to cancel. He has to go to a family reunion."

Hiyoko snickered. "Wow, your date stood you up."

"It wasn't a date. But anyways...I'm free for the weekend now, so I can go with you guys...If that'd be alright."

Mahiru smiled and stood up, clasping her hands together. "Of course. We'd love to have you come."

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahiiiiiiiiiiiiiiruuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…"

"Hiyoko, come on, it'll be a lot more fun with other people."

The kimono clad girl crossed her arms and pouted. "Fine, I guess Chiaki's cool. And she's good at games, so we'll totally win a ton of stuffed animals."

Chiaki responded with a head tilt. "I guess?"

Mahiru held out her hands and waved them. "Hiyoko's fine with you going." She then stopped and placed a finger to her temple. "Now we just have one ticket left...Maybe we could give that to someone..."

Chiaki untilted her head. "Well, we could give it to another classmate, even if Hajime is out."

"Oh! Oh!" Hiyoko raised her hand. "Let's bring Sonia, she'll have a ton of money to buy food with!"

Mahiru nervously smiled. "You're rich too though."

"And besides..." Chiaki raised one of her fingers to interject. "...Sonia has to go back to Novoselic for her Mom's birthday."

Mahiru placed her hand on her heart. "Aw, that's cute. She can't go with us, but that's understandable."

Hiyoko sighed and leaned back into her chair. "Okay, so she's out. Let's just throw names out...Peko?"

Chiaki chimed in again. "She and Gundham are going to a pet show, so they're both out."

"Akane?"

This was met with an arm cross from Mahiru. "The last time I took her anywhere I lost half my bank account getting her food."

Chiaki, who had been playing on her game console the entire time, added "That means we're down to the guys in our class."

"I mean, some of them are reliable...Maybe the other Byakuya?"

"He's helping Ryota study for a test."

Hiyoko tapped her fingers against her desk and responded with annoyance. "Kazuichi? He's a warm body."

"He refuses to go to Usami Land on account that he nearly died on Mount Usami. Nekomaru?"

Mahiru quickly answered. "He's banned from there."

"Why?"

"You don't want to know."

Chiaki nodded in complete understanding. "So...how about Fuyuhiko?"

Hiyoko snorted. "How about Fuyuhi-no? He's way to unapproachable."

"Teruteru?"

A simultaneous eyebrow raise from the two of them was all that Chiaki needed to know that that was a terrible idea...There was one more option...

"Nagito?"

"I'd rather bring Teruteru." Hiyoko immediately responded.

Mahiru sighed and leaned against the wall with her arm, placing one her hand on her hip. "Maybe we could ask if anyone from the other classes would like to go? I mean, there are some underclass mates who seem alright."

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." Hiyoko had gotten up and leaned herself against her friend from behind.

"Hiyoko, please stop. I don't want this ticket to go to waste."

"Just toss it out the window...we'll just go with Chiaki."

"I'm not going to toss it."

"Then just give it to a cousin or something, this doesn't have to be complicated..."

A metaphorical lightbulb had gone off over Chiaki's head, knocking her concentration for a brief second and almost getting her hit by an enemy laser, though she managed to successfully dodge it. "I could bring my cousin."

The two girls stopped and, once again, looked towards Chiaki. Though this time, it was Hiyoko who responded first. "Who?"

"My cousin."

"Your...cousin?" Hiyoko picked herself off of Mahiru and tilted her head.

Mahiru took her hand off of the wall and placed her hands behind her back as she turned to Chiaki, who responded to Hiyoko's question with a smile. "Yeah, they're an underclassman, you might recognize them from the opening ceremony for the Ultimates."

"They're an Ultimate?" Mahiru asked with surprise. "You never told us."

"I didn't?"

Hiyoko raised her eyebrow. "No, you didn't."

"Oh. I guess I forgot to mention it..."

"It's okay." Mahiru nodded and added "So, which one's your cousin?"

Chiaki actually paused her game and made sure to look both her friends directly in the eyes and admitted with pride "Chihiro Fujisaki."

-

"What?"

Chihiro Fujisaki sat at their class desk and began to pack their supplies into their backpack, though they had to pause when Chaiki had mentioned a little detail that she hadn't mentioned before now. "You and I are going to Usami Land with two of my classmates."

"I-I heard you the first time but...what?"

"You and I are going to-"

"I heard you the first time, just...you know it's Friday, right? I mean, this is really last minute."

"Did you have anything planned for either Saturday or Sunday?"

Chihiro took a few moments to ponder Chiaki's question. "Not...really. I mean, besides working on Alter Ego."

Chiaki smiled. "And you already do that all the time. You need to expand your horizons and find different things to do with your free time."

Chihiro left their desk with their backpack before walking with Chiaki towards the door. "But, I don't even know them...a-and are you sure you want to bring me to an amusement park?"

"You don't know people until you meet them." The two walked out of the door and into the hallway, walking past plenty of Reserve Course students, who seemed far too focused on their own tasks to focus on the two Ultimate's walking past them. "And of course I'd want to bring you. I don't spend enough time with you."

Chihiro uncomfortably placed their hand on their arm and rubbed it. "It's not like you miss anything..."

Chiaki looked down to her cousin with concern. "Chihiro..."

"I'm sorry, it's just that...well...the rides are scary. And loud...and, well, I know I can't be left by myself..."

Chiaki smiled and placed her hand onto Chihiro's shoulder. "Then I'll stay with you and Mahiru and Hiyoko can go on the bigger rides."

Chihiro remained unconvinced. "But, I don't see the point of me being there...I'm sure someone else would have fun...I mean, Aoi or Sayaka would be a lot more comfortable."

Chiaki hid her concern and remained silent all the way to Chihiro's dorm room. When they got there, Chihiro opened the door and walked into the room, immediately going over to their office desk, where they took out their laptop and turned it on. Chiaki, after closing the door behind her, flopped onto Chihiro's bed and waited for a few seconds to pass before she spoke up again. "It's been five months since school started, have you made any friends yet?"

"I talk to some of my classmates..."

"But do you ever hang out with them, or are you still going to your room when it's lunch time?"

Chihiro turned around to face their cousin. "It's comfortable in here. People won't pick on me if I'm not there."

Chiaki quickly sat up. "Are people still bullying you?"

"Well, a few of my classmates are mean. So I just try to avoid them."

"Why haven't you told me?"

The programmer turned back to face their laptop. "You're the class rep. You already have too much to deal with. And I'm fine working through it by myself, I've already done it for a long time..."

"And you're still dressing like a girl."

That was something Chihiro couldn't counteract. In fact, all he could do was slump into his chair, looking down at his desk, seeing a slight reflection of his doll like eyes.

"I'm sorry, but you know it's true. You need to let people help you."

"I...I can't...I've already tried...and...well..." Chihiro fidgeted with the ribbon around his collar. "You...You know how that turned out..."

More than anyone, Chiaki knew what Chihiro was referring to. So she decided to cease to pursue this and focus on the original point of discussion. "Chihiro, can you please give it a chance? I promise Mahiru's nice."

"And the other one?"

"I'll make sure Hiyoko's on her best behavior."

"That's not that reassuring."

Chiaki sighed and stood up. She then walked over to Chihiro and wrapped him into a hug from behind. "Look, I know I haven't been the best cousin, but you know I just want what's best for you."

"I know...I just...I don't know if I'm worth the effort..."

"You are. I promise." She help on tighter and rested her head against his shoulder. "And I promise this will be good for you."

"But..."

"You don't have to tell anyone about the crossdressing. You don't even have to go on a ride, I just want you to be more social. Chihiro...please."

Chihiro placed his hand on Chiaki's arm, appreciating how safe the hug made him feel, even if his somber face didn't show it. He took a minute to consider Chiaki's offer. "I don't know." He turned around to look at her face. "I just...I don't know if I should."

Chiaki hugged Chihiro tighter. "Just take your time, okay?"

"Okay..." After she let go of the hug, Chihiro looked up at her with a small smile on his face. "So, would it be okay if I tried to get some revenge in _Smash Bros?"_

Well, there's a little sign of life. Chiaki tilted her head. "You sure you're ready for another beat down?"

"I'll beat you one day. It might even be today."

A small giggle escaped Chiaki's lips. "Well, you never know."

Spoiler alert, Chiaki, once again, crushed him. Chihiro might have landed a strike here or there, but ultimately, the only time Chiaki ever died was a single time she had a momentary lapse of judgement and fell off a stage.

After another thrashing, Chihiro chuckled nervously. "I guess I've still got a ways to go."

"Maybe if you practice for a thousand years you'll be able to beat me."

"I don't really have that much time to practice."

She tilted her head a little to look at Chihiro straight in the eyes. "So why do you challenge me in the first place? You know it’s unlikely that you'll win."

Taken aback slightly, Chihiro responded "Well, for one, it's fun to play games with you. And..." The programmer fell backwards onto their bed, looking up at the ceiling "If I don't try, then I'll never know if I'll be able to defeat you. I know it might be impossible, especially since you're an Ultimate, but, one day, I'd love to finally win, even if it's just a single game..."

He was interrupted by the sound of a light bounce as Chiaki fell back as well. "You get it now."

"Huh?"

"Why I want you to go with us tomorrow."

"Ch-Chiaki I-"

"If you don't try, you'll never know. Maybe it'll be a complete and total disaster, maybe you'll find people who'll be friends for life, or maybe it'll be boring and you'll never see them again, the point is, unless you give it a shot, you'll never find the strength to tell anyone again."

Caught in a web of their own making, Chihiro began to fidget a little with his fingers. Once again, he took a moment to consider everything Chiaki had laid out in front of him...then, he turned to her. "I guess...I need to put my money where my mouth is."

"So, you'll go?"

"Yeah, I'll go."

Chiaki, using the hand that Chihiro couldn't see, did a small fist pump.

"You should probably tell them that I'm going..."

"I already did." Chihiro, in light of this sudden information, attempted to stutter out any kind of response, though he was halted by Chiaki "I was confident that I'd be able to convince you."

Chihiro actually let out a heartfelt laugh at this. "You sneaky little devil."

Chiaki's sole response to this was a sly wink.

"Well, I guess I could get revenge in another match?"

"Want me to tie one of my hands behind my back?"

"Nope! I want you to go all out!"

She did, and, once again, Chihiro was flattened. Though, at least he had fun.

-

"Maaaaaaaaaaahiiiiiiiiiiiiiruuuuuuuuuuu!"

"Just be a little patient. Chiaki and Chihiro will be here in a minute."

Hiyoko paced around back and forth in front of Mahiru's used red Sedan. "But if we wait too long the lines will be ridiculous! We should go early! They'll catch up."

Mahiru placed her hands on her hips. "It's an hour's walk from Hope's Peak. We're not going to bring guests along just to have them walk all the way there."

Hiyoko responded with a pout.

Mahiru laughed sheepishly. "Don't give me that look. Just try to be polite, we're meeting someone new."

"Whatever, I just wanna go to Usami Land and have a ton of fun with you, I don't really care who goes with us as long as we can do that."

Mahiru patted Hiyoko on the head. "We'll have plenty of fun. After all, we've been wanting to do this for years." The little blonde girl's eyes sparkled a little as she looked up and nodded in delight.

"Hey guys..."

Mahiru and Hiyoko halted their little moment to look toward two figures walking into the parking lot. Chiaki, wearing her blue jacket as opposed to her regular brown one, held Chihiro by the hand and gently motioned for him to walk with her towards the other two girls. "Sorry for being late, Chihiro had to wake me up."

"Geez, did you fall asleep again?" As the cousin duo walked over to them, Mahiru looked down and saw that Chihiro was looking towards the floor. Mahiru responded by leaning forward to look at him on an eye level, adding a warm little smile to her greeting. "Hello, I'm guessing you're Chihiro?"

Chihiro tightened his grip on Chiaki's hand, continuing to look down at the floor, the process of meeting a stranger, even one recommended by Chiaki, was nerve-wracking, to say the least. "Y-Yeah..."

"Chiaki's told us a lot about you."

"Yeah." Hiyoko snickered. "She mostly told us that you suck at _Smash Bros."_

"But you do too Hiyoko." Chiaki casually added. "In fact, you're much worse."

Hiyoko pouted and whispered under her breath. "You use cheats."

"Regardless..." Mahiru coughed into her hand to settle the others down, but her smile returned as she looked right at Chihiro. "It's nice to meet you Chihiro, thank you for coming with us."

"N-No problem. I...I'm not sure how many rides I'll go on..."

"It'll be fine. We'll make sure you're comfortable, okay?"

If the little blonde girl was Hiyoko, as Chiaki had called her, this must have been Mahiru. And, so far, what his cousin had told him seemed to be accurate. In fact, as she talked to him, Chihiro slowly began to look up from the floor. Soon, his gaze met Mahiru's, and it drew a slight smile from him. "It's...It's nice to meet you too."


	2. "A small step is better than no steps at all."

_“Welcome to Usami Land! The Biggest, Bestest, most Loveliest theme park in Japan! Love Love!”_

Standing at the gates of the theme park, Chihiro couldn’t help but feel like an ant heading towards a picnic zone. The sheer sight of Magical Girl Usami’s massive face as the gate into the park was more than enough to intimidate the petite boy. And this was on top of the sheer number of people who were entering, which was at least twice, if not three times more than, the amount of people exiting.

Kids and their parents, teen lovers who may break up a day later, elderly couples who may have been together for over half a decade, everyone seemed to want to go into the “Loveliest theme park in Japan.” And Chihiro knew he was going to have to enter the lion’s den of love as well, since he didn’t know how to drive and there’s no way his little legs could take him all the way back to Hope’s Peak.

Chiaki’s presence, her holding his hand, did make him feel less stressed then he could have been. So far, Mahiru had left a good impression on him. Then there was Hiyoko, who was so giddy with excitement that any potential onlookers to her dragging Mahiru by the hand could swear they were observing a poor overworked mother. _And no, Hiyoko’s clear height impairment didn’t help matters._

“EEEEEEEE!!!”

“We’reherewe’rehereIcan’tbelievewe’reherethisisgonnabeamazingandI’mgladI’msharingthiswithyouandnotthatdisgustingpigbarfohmyGodthisisgoingtobeamazingMahiru!”

Mahiru let out a chuckle and rubbed the back of her head, using the other to keep Hiyoko from bolting into the park without handing over their tickets. “I’m glad you’re excited, but try to stay close, okay? I don’t want you getting lost.”

“You can count on me!”

Chiaki smiled, placing her hands behind her back as she and her cousin trailed behind her classmates. She took a glance down at Chihiro before speaking to him. “You alright?”

“Y-Yeah...I just didn’t expect so many people to be here...I mean...I know it’s Saturday, but still…”

“It’s a little overwhelming, but you’ll get used to it the longer you’re here.”

“Maybe…” Chihiro reached over and took Chiaki by the hand...glancing back and forth from the crowd of people leaving and the throng of citizens entering. “...you don’t think we’ll get lost, right?”

“What’s wrong?” Hiyoko called out from in front in a snarky tone. “Afraid we’re gonna have so much fun that we’ll forget you’re here?”

Chihiro looked away from her towards the floor, though he found slight comfort in the tightening of Chiaki’s grip.

“Hiyoko…” Mahiru tightened her grip and responded in her own stern tone. “...please don’t be rude.” She then turned towards Chihiro “Please don’t take what Hiyoko says too seriously, she’s like this with everyone. It’s just...her way of communicating.”

“O-Oh…” Chihiro glanced up a little, making light eye contact before placing his free hand on his ribbon. “”Okay…”

“So…” Chiaki cut in “...anything you really want to ride Hiyoko?”

“Heck yeah!” Hiyoko forgot about Chihiro and gave an enthusiastic fist pump. “Mount Usami! Mahiru and I have been wanting to ride that for years!”

“Hiyoko...you know you might not be tall enough to go on it, right?”

Hiyoko scoffed “That’s what the ponytails for, so that I can cheese my way onto it.”

Chihiro internally processed how that would work, or if that could even be considered legal.

Mahiru chuckled “We’ll see once we get there.”

Soon, the quartet of Ultimates finally reached the ticket booth. Mahiru turned in their passes, and they were rewarded with their wristbands.

“Um…” Chihiro looked on with slight confusion as Chiaki made sure it was fastened around his wrist. “What are these for?”

“They’re to let the employees know…” Mahiru mirrored Chiaki by making sure Hiyoko’s band wasn’t going anywhere. “...that we have permission to ride on everything for free.”

“Free!?”

Hiyoko giggled “Heck yeah! This is our reward for winning those tickets.”

“And…” Mahiru finished up the last touches of the wristband by clicking the ends together. “Done. Alright, we’re ready to go.”

Chiaki finished up as well, before giving Chihiro a reassuring pat on the head, drawing a smile out of him, before turning to her classmates. “Whelp, this was your guy’s plan. What would you like to start with first?”

Hiyoko literally jumped with joy, an impressive feat given that she wore a Kimono. “Mount Usami!”

“Um…” Chihiro slowly raised his hand “I’m sorry but...what’s Mount Usami?”

“It’s the parks most famous ride...” Mahiru spoke up. “...a one and a half mile long, 80 mile an hour adventure, with loops, twists, turns, massive drops, the very peak of the ride is 300 feet at the very top.”

Chihiro’s expression went from curious to concerned and eventually slipped into outright fear once height was added to the equation. Mahiru quickly took note of this and backtracked “But don’t be afraid, you don’t have to ride it if you don’t want to.”

“Yeah.” Chiaki took Chihiro’s hand into her own. “I’ll stay with you while Hiyoko and Mahiru ride it.”

“Th-Thanks…”

Hiyoko sighed, which after a second evolved into a groan. “Guys, we gotta hurry up! The line’ll get too big if we just wait around!”

And she wasn’t wrong. By the time they reached the famed pink rollercoaster, the line had stretched from the foot of the mountain all the way to the concession stands...which was no less than a tenth of a mile from the base. Reactions ranged from a blank stare from Chiaki, to a large sigh from Mahiru, to deep fear at the sheer scale of this operation felt by Chihiro to open mouthed horror on Hiyoko’s part.

“Ehehe…” Mahiru rubbed the back of her head. “Maybe we should come back later?”

“But how do we know the line won’t get bigger?” Hiyoko asked

“I think…” Chiaki interjected “...that this is as big as it’ll get for the day.”

Mahiru nodded. “We could save this as the last ride of the day.”

“Mhm. It’d be a pretty good finale.”

Hiyoko crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks in frustration. “Fine. But we’re not leaving the park until we ride Mount Usami.”

“We will.” Mahiru turned towards the cousin duo. “Is there anything you’d like to start with?”

“I-I…” Chihiro looked down towards his feet, keeping his hand grasped in Chiaki’s, who gave a reassuring squeeze and spoke on his behalf.

“Chihiro might not go on any of the rides.”

Mahiru let out a light “Oh…” in surprise.

Hiyoko’s answer was slightly less polite. “Well why the hell are you here when you’re not going on anything? Aren’t you wasting someone’s ticket?”

“Hiyoko…” Chiaki interrupted, her voice a little more commanding than before. “I can tolerate when you’re a brat to me, but I’m not going to let you harass my cousin.”

“First of all…” Hiyoko let go of Mahiru’s hand and pointed it at Chiaki. “When have I ever been a brat? Second, I am not harassing her. I am simply stating the facts in a Hiyoko fashion. Why even bring her along?”

Mahiru interjected herself into the conversation by stepping in between the two parties. “Guys please. We’re here to have fun, okay? And...some of us might have fun just watching.”

Chihiro remained silent. Being called out like that just...hurt. And Chiaki knew it. It took her awhile to stop glaring at Hiyoko and returning to her calmer face. “You guys can go on whatever you’d like. I’ll stay with Chihiro.”

Hiyoko pouted and crossed her arms. “Whatever...as long as I’m with Mahiru I don’t care what you do.”

“What she’s trying to say…” Mahiru coughed out. “...is take your time. Chiaki said you ‘might’ not go on any rides. I’m sure with time you’ll feel comfortable.”

Mahiru’s words helped Chihiro look up a little to make eye contact with her. This drew a smile from him, though it was so small it was hard to make out. “Thank you…”

-

The ride routine was pretty much the same every time. Hiyoko would point out a ride she’d like to go on, moaned and groaned at how it wasn’t Mount Usami, and pull Mahiru towards it. The lass would then turn to Chiaki, ask if she and Chihiro would like to join them, Chiaki would ask her cousin, he’d think about it, say no, and Mahiru and Hiyoko would go on a ride while Chiaki and Chihiro would wait for their fun session to end.

Rinse and repeat, ride after ride, this would happen. From obvious rides like the Ferris Wheel of Love to the Heart Stopper, to even seemingly harmless rides like the Teacups and the Funhouse (though this might have to do with the clowns). Regardless of what it was, Chihiro could never bring himself to go on it. And the longer the day went on the more and more he felt like Hiyoko was right and he was wasting his time, as well as Chiaki’s. He might as well have been a pet.

-

“Alright!” Hiyoko pumped her fists in pure joy as the quartent walked towards the mountain of love itself. “We’ve only got one ride left! Mahiru lets go let’s go let’s go!”

Mahiru chuckled a little once again as she felt herself get pulled by the 4’3 girl. “Don’t rush. We’ll get there when we get there.”

Chihiro was in a less than positive mood, however. He and Chiaki trailed behind, and even Chiaki, as optimistic as she was, knew that he was just as uncomfortable now as he was when they got here. This plan was, in effect, a failure. But despite that, she nudged his shoulder and whispered, “You know, it’s the little steps that count.”

“Huh?”

“Yesterday you weren’t even thinking you’d make it to the theme park. But...here we are.” A small smile dotted her face. “It’s not a giant leap forward, but we’re closer now then we were when we started.”

Chihiro considered his cousin’s words carefully, and he sent up a little smile of his own. “It’s certainly progress. And...a small step is better than no steps at all.”

“There, you get it.”

“I wish we didn’t waste the passes though.”

“People waste those all the time. I think.”

“Are you two gonna stay back all day?” Hiyoko called out from in front. “If you two get lost we’re leaving without you.”

“Ehehe…” Mahru turned around, waving her hand. “That’s just Hiyoko humor. Just ignore it.”

“You know…” Chiaki spoke up. “Hiyoko humor is a niche genre. Not a lot of people enjoy it, or even tolerate it.”

“Hmph…” Hiyoko stuck her nose up while turning her back to them. “At least I’m not a coward.”

Mahiru turned towards Hiyoko and sighed out “Hiyoko, please…”

“I-It’s fine…” Chihiro mumbled out. “I’m...not...going to argue with that.”

Chiaki sighed and the quartet made it to their final destination, Mount Usami. And by a sheer stroke of luck, (potentially provided by Nagito), the line was much, much shorter, with people willing to take the plunge numbering in the tens as opposed to the hundreds. Hiyoko’s eyes were sparkling like stars as she rushed over to the line, dragging along poor Mahiru, who could barely keep her feet under her. Chiaki and Chihiro, meanwhile, took a much slower approach as they accompanied the two. They stayed several feet back as Mahiru showed their passes to the awkward gangly teen running the entry booth,, Hiyoko already standing by and waiting to get measured.

Suddenly, the Tetris theme blasted from what seemed to be Chiaki. She halted before reaching into her pocket and retrieving her phone. “Oh...it’s Mom. It’s probably about the console she let me borrow.”

“Um...Chiaki…”

“Hey hey…” Chiaki patted Chihiro’s head. “I won’t be long, just stay by the ride and I’ll be there in a minute. You can last a minute, right?”

Chihiro took a few seconds to ponder this seemingly easy question. He squeezed Chiaki’s hand a little before he ultimately relented. “I’ll...try…” Chiaki nodded, slowly letting go of Chihiro’s hand before walking away towards a few benches at the side of the ride. He kept his eyes on her as she started to talk into the cell phone.

Internally, Chihiro knew he could probably last a minute. It’d just be one minute…

“God Damn it!” This sudden burst of anger took Chihiro off guard and he turned around and saw Hiyoko stomping away from the ride and towards him. Mahiru followed closely behind in far less of a huff.

“What...happened?” Chihiro asked with concern.

Hiyoko responded to said concern with “It’s bullshit! They won’t let me on!”

“To be fair…” Mahiru chimed in. “...you didn’t make the height limit.”

“My ponytail should have helped me make the limit! God are you kidding me!?”

“I-I’m sorry…” Chihiro squeaked. “Can’t...they let Mahiru go with you?”

Mahiru sighed. “They won’t let people under five feet tall ride without two people who make the height limit accompanying them.”

“Where the fuck is Chiaki?” Hiyoko stomped again, causing Chihiro to visibly flinch.

“She’s answering a phone call…she should be done in-”

Chihiro was interrupted by Hiyoko. “Go get her now! I am not going to wait on this!”

“U-Um...I-I can’t...she’s busy…”

“Does that look like my problem!?”

“Hiyoko…” Mahiru stepped in. “Chiaki can’t go with us. Remember? She can’t leave Chihiro alone.”

Mahiru’s attempt to calm the situation had an unintentional negative side effect. Hearing that he was preventing Hiyoko and Mahiru’s dream ride caused his heart to ache. He clutched at it and looked towards the floor.

“Are you kidding me?”

“H-Huh?” Chihiro said looking up. Hiyoko stared daggers into his eyes.

“We have planned this trip for years, and you...some little nobody who’s only here because of your cousin...”

“Hiyoko…” Mahiru tried to intervene, concern rising in her voice.

“You’re ruining that!” Hiyoko stomped towards Chihiro.

Seeing this, he took a weak step back, his eyes started to water and he looked away from Hiyoko. “I-I’m sorry...I...I didn’t mean to…”

“Sorry’s not going to cut it!” Hiyoko poked him in the chest harshly, causing him to stumble back.

“Hiyoko please!” Mahiru looked towards the bench, Chiaki still hadn’t finished her call, and she wasn’t even facing the three of them.

“If you want to make this up to us…” Hiyoko poked him in the chest again even harder. “Then get your scrawny ass onto that ride and go with us!”

Chihiro’s watery eyes turned into full blown tears. “I-I can’t...I’m scared…”

“I came here to have the best time with my best friend! Not to help you feel less useless!” Another poke caused Chihiro to stumble back again, this time he fell down onto a sitting position.

“Hiyoko please stop!” Mahiru’s face grew even more concerned as Chihiro fell. But Hiyoko was far too focused on her target, and his crying evolved into hitched breathing.

“I-I’m sorry...I-I...I...I…”

Hiyoko gritted her teeth and stepped on Chihiro’s foot, drawing a pained cry from his lips. “I am telling you one more time! Get your useless ass off the floor and get on that ride or I swear! I will make your life a living hell you shrimp souled bitc-”

“HIYOKO ENOUGH!!!”

All the murmuring in the park came to a halt, and Hiyoko looked away from Chihiro, looking into Mahiru’s face, which had turned a shade of red and her eyes had gotten wet. The girl was visibly shivering, and for the first time in their relationship, Mahiru’s anger was directed at her.

“H-Hey...Mahiru…”

“What’s going on?” Chiaki had finally come back, looking no less concerned and even angered  over seeing her cousin sitting on the floor and crying.

Mahiru took a deep breath, before taking Hiyoko by the hand and handing her over to Chiaki. “You are going to follow Chiaki around until you reflect on what you did.”

“But...I didn’t…”

“Don’t test me right now!” Mahiru snapped, drawing a flinch from Hiyoko. It was a response that, internally, hurt Mahiru as well. But she turned towards Chiaki, telling her in a much gentler tone. “I...need to make this right…”

Chiaki looked down towards Chihiro, who had buried his face into his arm, causing her heart to ache. But if there was one person she could trust with her cousin, it was Mahiru. Without another word, she walked off, taking Hiyoko along with her. Hiyoko, for her part, didn’t resist. If anything, she was trying to come to terms with the fact that Mahiru had yelled at her.

After they had left, Mahiru turned to Chihiro, and kneeled down next to him. “Chihiro…” She called out, her voice soft, slowly realizing that other people in line were staring at them. In order to make things easier for Chihiro, Mahiru nudged him on the shoulder. “Can you get up? I’d...like to talk to you somewhere else.”

Chihiro slowly took his eyes off of his sleeve. His eyes were a red mess, and his sleeve had wet marks from where he had cried. He didn’t say a word, but got to his feet, with some assistance from Mahiru. She kept her hands on his shoulders and led him away from Mount Usami and the staring eyes of the crowd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this was worth the wait! Sorry this took...6 months to get out. I wanted to make sure that this was worth the read, and that took a while cause I wanted to run it by a friend of mine. They were extremely busy, but they also had lots of school stuff to deal with, so I don't blame them.  
> Overall, I'll try to upload more frequently, but by more frequently, I mean "not in 6 month periods of time." So, well, you never know, I'll try.


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